Barn-Style Houses

“They are modernists who have ended up living in old structures,” interior designer S. Russell Groves says of a hedge-fund manager and his wife, who asked him to reimagine the interiors of a 19th-century barn that had been moved from Canada to Connecticut and subsequently converted into a 15-room house.

Photo: Scott Frances

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“There was a lot of texture already present here,” Groves says of the dining room at the renovated Connecticut barn. “So we chose a very simple table and chairs—wood themselves, in order to relate to the surroundings—and a customized chandelier.” A flagstone fireplace topped with wood cabinets anchors the space.

Photo: Scott Frances

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Wood beams and paneling line the dining room of an old carriage house turned expansive main residence at Mount Brilliant Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. The architect was Elby S. Martin, and the interior designer was Mona Hajj.

Photo: Billy Cunningham

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To maximize views of a nearby lake at Mount Brilliant Farm, Martin created an enclosed terrace with a glass roof that suffuses the space with sunlight; the interior design is by Mona Hajj.

Photo: Billy Cunningham

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A field house in upstate New York was conceived, in a collaborative effort, by architect Paul F. Shurtleff and landscape architect Douglas Reed. The lawn, terraced by a stone wall, echoes the divisions of the building’s living and pool areas.

Photo: Scott Frances

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The media room of the field house, decorated by Thad Hayes, has exposed trusses of “forest salvage” Douglas fir and oversize French doors. The furnishings include an early-19th-century Italian oak worktable, and, in the foreground, a bench from Newel. The plaid upholstery and the curtain fabric are by Lee Jofa, and the sofas and ottomans are clad in leathers by Edelman.

Photo: Scott Frances

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On his 128-acre upstate New York property, which was formerly a dairy farm, architect Dean Marchetto rehabilitated an existing barn (it now serves as a play space for his sons) and added a separate ten-room, 4,000-square-foot weekend house for the family.

Photo: Bilyana Dimitrova

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Oak is the predominant material in Marchetto’s living room, used on the walls and floor and in the Arts and Crafts–style furnishings. The grid of the Marvin window wall echoes a design feature of the barn; a landscape by Christie Scheele hangs by the sofa.

Photo: Bilyana Dimitrova

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Designers Penny Drue Baird and Irwin Weiner teamed together to transform a 19th-century barn in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, into a 4,000-square-foot spacefor entertaining guests. Boards from the interior replaced crumbling ones on the exterior, and expansive windows were added. John Morgan Thomas was the landscape architect.

Photo: Matt Wargo

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A living area occupies one end of the open main floor of the revamped Bucks County barn. The wing chair fabric is by Cowtan & Tout, and the stool is from Yale R. Burge Antiques.

Photo: Matt Wargo

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For his retreat in Carpinteria, California, film director Joel Schumacher wanted a rustic look with modern comforts. He called on architect Don Nulty, who created a new residence that incorporated reclaimed barn wood.

Photo: Mary E. Nichols

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African beaded kings’ and queens’ armchairs flank the entrance to Schumacher’s bedroom. “The Beacon blankets and Native American rugs are from everywhere,” he recalls. “I’ve been collecting them from flea markets, swap meets, and the like since 1971.”

Photo: Mary E. Nichols

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Vincent Herbert, CEO of Le Pain Quotidien, and his wife, Laurence Verbeke, enlisted architect Francis D’Haene of D’Apostrophe Design to renovate their weekend house in Remsenburg, New York. Much of its exterior was replaced with siding salvaged from a 200-year-old Canadian barn.

Photo: William Waldron

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At the Herbert-Verbeke residence, Dinesen wide-plank Douglas-fir floorboards complement the pristine architecture; the lamp is by BDDW.

Photo: William Waldron

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Designed by architect Gil Schafer, a Connecticut poolhouse takes the shape of a sophisticated barn with stone walls and weathered plank shutters; the custom-made windows are by Reilly Windows & Doors. The landscape design is by Deborah Nevins.

Photo: Billy Cunningham

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At the Connecticut poolhouse, which was decorated by John Cottrell, a large ficus tree gives the great room a forestlike air; the stone planter is from La Maison Française Antiques. Landscape studies from Dennis & Leen are displayed on the far wall; the iron sconces are by Formations, and the upholstery fabrics are by Pindler & Pindler.

Photo: Billy Cunningham

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Architect Margaret McCurry of Tigerman McCurry designed this Lake Michigan getaway. “It’s a modern interpretation of the farm structures that populate this region of Michigan,” the architect explains. The exterior is clad in red-painted tongue-and-groove cedar siding and topped with a metal standing-seam roof.

Photo: Timothy Hursley

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In contrast with the surrounding wooded landscape, absolute symmetry rules in the white-walled, double-height living room, from the placement of the windows to the positioning of the furniture. The cocktail table is from Ligne Roset.

Photo: Timothy Hursley

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For a renovated barn that serves as the Roxbury, Connecticut, retreat of a South American diplomat and his wife, AD100 designer Juan Montoya eschewed traditional white trim. “I had the trim of this one painted barn-red, because I didn’t want anything to detract from the cleanliness and purity of the composition,” he says.

Photo: John M. Hall

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At the Connecticut property, Montoya laid out the bath with X-motif cabinetry. The tub and sink fittings are by Waterworks.

Photo: John M. Hall

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An 1895 barn in Wilton, Connecticut, was restored and expanded by architect David Ling for art collectors Rhonda Brown and Tom Grotta. Ling “reused the barn vernacular but with a modernist sensibility” for the addition.

Photo: Scott Frances

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In the Brown-Grotta entrance hall are, from left, a tapestry by Mariette Rousseau-Vermette and works by Debra Sachs and Christine Joy.